There and Back Again!

(The boys in the car on the way to Utah, we stopped to get gas in Fort Collins, and the boys got a sour, sugary treat from the store. It's a way to celebrate the half way mark, I guess :))

We Anderson's sometimes forget how much we really love being close to family. We get in the grove of things, living our lives out here in Kansas. It's a good life, we feel so blessed and content, and then we plan a vacation to Utah. We spend the next month anticipating and excitedly awaiting the upcomming trip. Somehow, 1,000 miles and 16 + hours in the car doesn't seem that big a deal when we are heading toward those realitives of ours. We arrive and after going through the rounds of long awaited hugs and kisses and more hugs and heartfelt hello's we soon get on with the buisness of playing, and for a short while being close to the people we love. Oh how we love to play, and how we love being with people that love us and are (at least we believe) excited to see us too. I'm sure we do a fantastic job of throwing everyone's schedules off, making messes, getting into things, leaving dirty fingerprints everywhere, and adding a few (well maybe a lot of) decibles to the noise factor. But then, I also think we do a fantastic job of contributing to some pretty fun memories.


All too soon it's time to get back in the car and head East. After rounds of tearful hugs and kisses we force ourselves back into the car. We remind ourself's that we really do like it in Kansas, but this time around 1,000 miles and 16+ hours in the car becomes a little less bearable, and uncomfortalby numbing. With a chunk of our hearts left behind, we come to accept the fact that for a while we will continuially think about and really miss those realitives of ours. This time around, two days after we got home, Will told me during breakfast, "Mom, I need to tell you something, I just really hate leaving Mawga's house." He's in good company. We know there will be a little emptyness inside, then after a while we will get back to normal, our schedule returns, life continues and we are content and happy, looking forward to the next trip and looking forward to a time we will see those realitives of ours again.





Thanks family for the wonderful trip!